Old School Frozen Custard

It's that time of year when people enjoy chilled drinks and frozen desserts. Capitol Hill now has a few places to enjoy ice cream and its distant cousins frozen and CUSTARD.

Read some old posts and you will see that frozen custard is a childhood favorite of mine and the only place I really get to enjoy it is when I go back to visit my family in Wisconsin. When I was a kid I pretty much thought it was a given that you would always get smooth, rich and creamy custard when going out for frozen treats. After living on the West Coast for several years, I realized that wasn't true. Welcome to the neighborhood Old School Frozen Custard.

L. had yet to visit this spot so after dinner we walked up the hill to try it out.

Walking up to the spot, I saw that Chocolate Peanut Butter was the flavor of the day. Now, even as a kid I stuck to straight vanilla but I wanted to see what this was all about since I have already sampled the vanilla. Everyday they offer vanilla and chocolate along with a special flavor.

When we got there it wasn't crowded and the staff were ready to help us. The menu is big and at lunch time you have the option of getting down on Nathan's hotdogs. The custard options vary from cups, cones to sundaes. You have several topping choices and blended dessert if you want to get down like that. Check out their whole menu here.

Like I said, I decided on the chocolate and peanut butter and decided on the cake cone. I was happy that it held that creamy and smooth texture that I love about custard but their is something about Kopps that nobody is coming close to. What was missing from this custard is the richness that I truly love. L. went with the plain chocolate in the waffle cone.

I think he shared my sentiments about the custard because he too has been to the holy land of Kopps. Special flavors rotate all month and I snapped a quick pick of the July calendar...I immediately realized I wish I was going today to try that coconut! They also have the flavor calendar online.

Also hiding in the massive open counter is a small freezer which contains pints of special flavors from days past. I looked for coconut, but no dice.

The decor on the walls are vintage looking photos of local schools. I seriously did not realize why they had all those school pictures up until I left...WOW.

It's hard to be that excited that custard is right here when it makes me miss the GOD of custard, but I am happy to have the choice here on the hill.

1316 E Pike
Sun-Thurs 12-10pm
Fri-Sat 12-11pm

My trip to Newburg, Wisconsin 2009

West Allis, Wisconsin is where I was born. I lived in a suburb of Milwaukee for the first 13 years of my life, then we relocated to hell, or what some refer to as Spokane, Washington. Regardless, I turned out just fine, sort of...

My dad still lives in Wisconsin, 30 some miles north of Milwaukee in a village called Newburg where he lives with my step mom in a very rural area. My dad is also a firefighter and the local fire department holds an annual fundraiser every year in June. This "picnic" is a 3 day beer drinking, cover band featuring, carnival ride having, greasy food serving insane party. This year, myself along with my brother and our significant others took the trip to visit and support my dad. Below are a few pictures and comments from the trip including some insane food sampled along the way.

first night at my dads and he wanted us to get in on the schlitz because apparently
its back and better than ever. Not bad.

after a few beers we drove to Cousins for some sandwiches. These sandwiches are so good and so simple.
Its gotta be the bread or oregano. I had the club sandwich.

the following day we drove to Port Washington (where Dustin Diamond lives, and yes, I did see him at the grocery store)
and we got down on Friday Fish Fry at Newport Shores.

I started with a dinner salad, it was pretty standard along with the honey mustard dressing

i also decided to go with the blatz in a bottle, my grandpa use to drink this by the case when we were kids.
it tastes pretty good ice cold, pretty malty...but when warm, its a bit much.

for lunch i had the baked potato with the fried lake perch. The fish was decent, a bit dry but nothing like a local favorite.

the restaurant is right on lake michigan with a pretty nice view of the water.
the decor is dated but it works. average age of other patrons about 85.

Later that evening...

later that night we went to the first night of the fireman's picnic on the park grounds in Newburg.
we drank at home and then took it to the streets. First stop, the carny food wagon for a walking taco.

basically you get taco fixings on top of a bag of smashed doritos.
apparently i ate a lot of this, i dont remember.

the next day...

the next day we went to another part of the area called Grafton and we hit up a spot called Vino 100 for a Saturday wine tasting.

with our australian wine's we shared some garlic jack. wisconsin sure makes some good cheese.

Saturday night was fun, b. and I worked in the beer tent and served hundreds of people pitchers of beer and mikes hard. It was a lot of fun, didnt take any pictures... but feel free to check out the fire department's photos here.

sunday is the finale of the picnic, they have a parade including all the firetrucks and a lot of other things
like tractors, dancing grannies, kids, classic cars and marching .bands


after the picnic we headed to the park grounds to hang out and drink a few beers.
we stopped by the carny food wagon and got a snack. they were out of deep fried pickles so i got the deep fried cheese.

i swear this is american cheese, my brother said it was cheddar...regardless it was a
bit much. the first bite was hot and tasty, after that it became thick , strange and solid. damn, what a healthy snack.

Monday...

monday everyone wanted to go get some custard, naturally we went to Kopps.

you can read my other posts about the amazing custard at kopps. i ate mine so fast i didnt take a photo, it was hot and it was melting. I got the standard vanilla. the flavor of the day was mint chocolate chip or this other monday mystery special of chocoalte custard with chocolate covered peanuts. my brother and L. also got a burger. b, loves these burgers, they are huge and greasy.

that night we went to the firehouse to say goodbye to the locals and watched my dad cook steaks for the guys.


the last thing i remember about monday night is playing quarters with my family and a few brave locals. i fell on the floor.



Well that was it, 5 days of kicking it in the midwest.
Below is my favorite random photo from the trip:

Frozen Custard!!!!

While walking to work the same way I walk everyday I came across a new poster in a store window about a new restaurant opening...

OLD SCHOOL FROZEN CUSTARD
(check the link for a menu!!!)

As you may have read in prior posts, I love custard and haven't had anything close to the stuff I grew up on in the puget sound area. I am so excited and can't wait to try it. After doing some research I found out they will open this spring and they will also be serving Nathan's hot dogs. L. Nopen and I will be the first people in line.


Located at 1316 E. Pike

Kopp's

Kopp's Frozen Custard was the spot I would beg my mom to take me for any occasion I could think of when I was a kid. My brother and I could always count on my aunt to also take us there because she too was rather big on the spot. I remember trying to eat 2 scoops of frozen custard while it melted all over the backseat of her Gremlin. Growing up I had no idea what a true treasure frozen custard really was....until we moved thousands of miles away from Wisconsin to the wonderful town of Spokane WA. Please.

A recent trip to Milwaukee proved that the same quality and taste is still happening at Kopp's. Now if you haven't ever had frozen custard which is a standard and product of the midwest-- then you are missing out. In comparison to ice cream, custard has additional butterfat and egg yolk giving it a smooth creamy rich texture. Preparation also differs than ice cream through an overrun process that adds less air to the custard than ice cream. On the daily Kopp's serves chocolate and vanilla custard along with an extra flavor of the day. I tend to stick with the vanilla but have been known to venture out if inspired.

Check out other flavors here.

One of the best things about this spot is seeing the custard made right in front of your eyes. When you get served it is so fresh, there is no way any other dessert is coming close to this.


We went to Kopp's twice during our trip. L. was addicted. Below is his first go at it with the chocolate truffle.


Now, I know it will not be the same as getting it fresh but Kopp's will ship you 10 flavors of your choice right to your door. My birthday is right around the corner...midwest express.